“Did you see that? That’s the kind of play an ace is supposed to make.”
The overwhelming sense of danger lasted only an instant.
As soon as Asuto activated Taunt again, the threatening aura Tendō Satori had just sensed vanished without a trace.
Tendō immediately fell silent.
He began to wonder if he had imagined the whole thing.
After all, the current Asuto simply didn’t possess the aura one would expect from a true powerhouse.
On the other hand, Goshiki Tsutomu was reaching his limit.
After all, he was only a fifteen-year-old kid.
‘How was he supposed to endure this?’
Besides, Taunt was the kind of skill whose effectiveness depended entirely on who was using it.
If anyone else had delivered the same taunts Asuto had just used, Goshiki probably wouldn’t have cared enough to give them a second glance.
Unfortunately for him, though, the person standing opposite was Asuto.
At the beginning of the match, Goshiki had pointed at Asuto boldly and challenged him.
Asuto had accepted the challenge, thoroughly beaten Goshiki, and casually thrown in a few taunts for good measure.
For a fifteen-year-old, trying to show off only to get utterly crushed in return was too cruel an experience.
Even Aoba Johsai’s own teammates were starting to feel sorry for him.
“Asuto-chan, you’re being way too cruel.” Oikawa walked over to Asuto and spoke in a deliberately “quiet” voice.
“I only told you to beat him badly enough that he’d have to leave the court. What if you accidentally leave that first-year with lifelong psychological trauma?”
“WHAT THE HELL?!”
The moment he said those words, everyone on both teams, including Asuto, stared at him with wide eyes.
‘Can a human being actually say something like that?’
On the surface, Oikawa’s words sounded considerate. But anyone with half a brain knew that a black-hearted schemer like Oikawa Tōru would never be acting out of pure kindness.
Just moments ago, Shiratorizawa’s Setter had been debating whether Goshiki Tsutomu should be temporarily substituted out.
After all, allowing a player whose mentality was falling apart to remain on the court wasn’t good for either the team or the player.
However, after Oikawa’s little speech, Shirabu Kenjirō no longer had any room to hesitate.
Because, unless he genuinely wanted Goshiki to develop psychological trauma, he now had no choice but to keep him on the court.
If he substituted Goshiki immediately after Oikawa said that, then even if Goshiki hadn’t been overthinking things before, he definitely would start now.
Looking at the elegant smile still hanging on Oikawa’s face, Shirabu felt no warmth whatsoever.
Instead, it seemed as though he could see the shadow of a devil lurking behind him.
Asuto quietly took a step away from Oikawa.
It was not for any tactical reason. He was simply worried that staying too close to this guy for too long might corrupt his pure and innocent soul.
Score: 2–1
The serve returned to Aoba Johsai.
After the rotation, the player stepping up to serve was none other than Oikawa Tōru.
Standing behind the baseline in Position 1, Oikawa immediately unleashed a super high-speed serve aimed directly at Goshiki Tsutomu.
Although Goshiki’s slightly forward positioning caused the serve to graze the block and lose some of its intended power, the play still frightened the rest of Shiratorizawa.
“What a bastard! That’s way too underhanded!”
It was obvious that Oikawa’s serve had been intended to completely crush Goshiki’s spirit. If he had successfully scored with that serve, Goshiki’s mentality might have shattered on the spot.
After all, Goshiki was only a first-year student.
His offensive skills were excellent, and his fundamentals were solid enough, but his chances of receiving one of Oikawa’s serves successfully were still fairly low.
Combined with the pressure Asuto had already piled onto him, this could very well have been the final straw that forced him off the court.
“Ara~~ What a shame.” Oikawa put on an expression of exaggerated disappointment. “I was hoping to widen the score gap with my serve.”
By now, however, both teams knew exactly how black-hearted he was, so nobody paid any attention to his act.
The audience was a different story.
Quite a few spectators were completely captivated by his expression and immediately burst into cheers.
“Ahhhhh~~~ Oikawa-kun is so handsome!”
“Oikawa-kun, I love you! And Asuto-kun too… I love him as well!”
“Go, Oikawa-kun! Go, Asuto-kun!”
…
A large group of girls cheered enthusiastically for Oikawa.
Partway through, several Asuto fans somehow joined the chorus as well.
As one of Aoba Johsai’s primary heartthrobs, Asuto had gradually begun attracting fans from outside the school after his performances in recent matches.
Seeing this scene, it wasn’t just Shiratorizawa, even many of Aoba Johsai’s own players felt as though a knife had been stabbed into their chests.
And it dealt real damage.
Waves of resentful dark energy seemed to rise from above their heads.
“Damn happy couples! Just explode already!”
Shiratorizawa regained the right to serve.
After the rotation, it was Ushijima Wakatoshi’s turn.
However, perhaps due to the considerable stamina he had already expended, Ushijima failed to maintain his usual form and made a serving error on his very first attempt.
3–2.
Then Aoba Johsai served.
Shiratorizawa gained the attack opportunity, and Shirabu Kenjirō set the ball to the newly rotated outside hitter, Ōhira Reon.
Unfortunately for him, facing the triple block formed by Asuto, Matsukawa Issei, and Hanamaki Takahiro, Ōhira had no way to break through.
He could only watch helplessly as his spike was stuffed back down.
4–2.
Now, Aoba Johsai’s formidable blocking ability began to reveal itself.
Against Ushijima Wakatoshi’s attacks, Aoba Johsai’s blocks had often been shattered outright.
But that only happened when they were facing Ushijima.
It was true that they couldn’t stop Ushijima’s offense.
However, for anyone else on Shiratorizawa’s roster, breaking through Aoba Johsai’s current blocking wall was far from easy.
Standing in the backcourt, Oikawa Tōru looked across at the entire Shiratorizawa lineup and curled his lips into a faint smile.
“So… what are you going to do now?”
“Are you planning to keep throwing away this third set?”
“Or are you going to have your Great Ace go all out?”
In truth, Oikawa very much hoped Shiratorizawa would unleash Ushijima at full power to secure the third set. If that happened, Aoba Johsai would respond by going all out in the fourth set and trying to win it as quickly as possible.
By the time the decisive fifth set arrived, Ushijima would have no chance of recovering his stamina that quickly.
And a Shiratorizawa without Ushiwaka… Posed almost no threat to Aoba Johsai.
Unfortunately for Oikawa… Shiratorizawa had no intention of doing that.
Despite continuously losing points, the players showed remarkable composure.
There was no sign of panic.
They maintained their rhythm exactly as before.
5–2.
5–3.
6–3.
7–3.
…
Without Ushiwaka carrying the offense, and while facing Aoba Johsai’s powerful blocking and Asuto’s fierce attacks, the score gap rapidly widened.
Clearly… Shiratorizawa had decided to abandon the third set.
Meanwhile…
“Such a shame.” Shiratorizawa’s assistant coach couldn’t help sighing once again.
“If only Asuto had joined our team. If he were one of our players, this match would probably have ended long ago.”
After facing Aoba Johsai for so long, he understood exactly how strong they were.
Under normal circumstances, Aoba Johsai was troublesome, yes. But they were only a minor nuisance to Shiratorizawa, not the genuine threat they had become now.
At the very least, in the past, Aoba Johsai could never have forced Shiratorizawa to deliberately surrender an entire set.
And the root cause was simple.
Asuto’s arrival had dramatically strengthened Aoba Johsai’s offense and defense alike.
“Hmph.” Coach Washijō Tanji merely snorted.
He neither agreed nor disagreed.
By now, Washijō had already realized that Asuto possessed potential comparable to Ushijima Wakatoshi’s and that was precisely why he could never truly fit into Shiratorizawa.
Because if Asuto joined Shiratorizawa, coexistence between him and Ushijima would be extremely difficult.
One mountain cannot accommodate two tigers.
Unless one is male and the other female.
Even something as simple as ball distribution would become impossible to resolve.
Shiratorizawa and Aoba Johsai were fundamentally different.
Aoba Johsai possessed far greater flexibility and inclusiveness. Shiratorizawa, however, adhered unwaveringly to the principle of a single absolute core.
In other words…
Even if Asuto had joined Shiratorizawa, as long as Ushijima remained on the team, Asuto would most likely spend his first year as a supporting player.
Possibly even a substitute.
For an ordinary player, enduring a year like that might not be a big deal.
But for a genius like Asuto… It was something he would never tolerate.
BOOM!
A thunderous impact echoed through the gym.
Asuto smashed the ball straight through the double block formed by Tendō Satori and Goshiki Tsutomu.
The volleyball crashed onto the floor.
And with that, the third set came to an end.
25–20.
For the first time, Aoba Johsai had taken a set from Shiratorizawa by a margin of more than five points.
Sets: Aoba Johsai 2 – 1 Shiratorizawa
With such a favorable position, even Oikawa Tōru couldn’t help feeling a little carried away.
He was already considering whether they should simply go all-out from the start of the fourth set and crush Shiratorizawa before the match even reached a fifth set.
However, that thought only lingered in Oikawa’s mind for a moment before he discarded it.
A person needed to know their limits.
Just because someone showed a little “courtesy” didn’t mean you should take it seriously.
It was obvious that Shiratorizawa had intentionally thrown away the third set.
If Aoba Johsai actually treated that scoreline as proof of superiority and exhausted themselves trying to force a victory in the fourth set, then things would be troublesome.
If they somehow managed to win, great. But if they lost, then the decisive fifth set would become extremely dangerous.
Therefore, after weighing his options, Oikawa chose the safer strategy.
The fourth set began.
The first server was none other than Shiratorizawa’s ace… Ushijima Wakatoshi.
BANG!
The very first serve of the set came screaming across the court.
His powerful left-handed topspin serve cut through the air above the net with a sharp whistle before plunging toward Aoba Johsai’s backcourt.
At the critical moment… Shinji Watari launched himself into a dive.
Barely, just barely, he managed to keep the ball alive.
After three full sets of adaptation, Watari had finally begun to grasp a little of the spin on Ushijima’s serves. His receiving ability was still nowhere near the level of Karasuno’s libero, Nishinoya Yū, from the original story, but for the current Aoba Johsai team, it was more than enough.
The receive flew wildly off-target.
Even Oikawa would have difficulty organizing a proper attack from a pass like that.
But it didn’t matter.
Because this set… Aoba Johsai wasn’t planning to launch powerful attacks in the first place.
After Watari’s receive, Hanamaki Takahiro temporarily took over the setter role.
The final hit was then entrusted to Iwaizumi Hajime.
Faced with such a terrible pass, Iwaizumi could only send over an awkward tip shot.
The ball barely cleared the block before drifting into Shiratorizawa’s backcourt.
Throughout the entire rally, neither Asuto nor Oikawa Tōru touched the ball offensively.
Naturally, Iwaizumi’s weak tip had no scoring potential.
Shiratorizawa’s defenders picked it up with ease and passed it to Shirabu Kenjirō, allowing him to organize another attack for Ushijima Wakatoshi.
Ushijima exploded into his approach and jumped decisively.
But at the instant he rose into the air, three figures suddenly appeared before him.
The towering triple block was so imposing that even Ushijima paused for the briefest moment.
Only for an instant.
In the very next second, he swung without hesitation.
SMACK!
The volleyball clipped Kindaichi’s fingertips.
It wasn’t blocked outright, but neither did it hit the floor.
Instead, it shot high into the air.
“One Touch!” Kindaichi shouted loudly.
“I’ve got it~~!” From the backcourt, Watari spread his arms and signaled his teammates to clear out.
Then he calmly received the ball. This pass was far cleaner than the previous one.
Oikawa took the set and delivered a beautifully placed toss above Iwaizumi Hajime.
Iwaizumi jumped.
And then… He hit another spike.
One that still lacked any real power.
“Hm?”
A Shiratorizawa defender received the ball and felt that something seemed off. Yet he couldn’t immediately identify what was bothering him.
So he simply passed the ball to Shirabu as usual.
Shirabu organized the offense again and once more, the set went to Ushijima Wakatoshi.
After the previous set, Shirabu had come to a realization.
Aoba Johsai’s blocking had become so strong that, aside from Ushijima, forcing attacks through it carried considerable risk for everyone else.
Thus, Ushijima attacked again.
As before, Aoba Johsai’s front-row blockers prepared to use a touch block defense.
This time, however, Ushijima gave them no chance at all.
He hammered the ball straight into the court.
1–0.
After a rally that had already lasted through three exchanges, Shiratorizawa finally scored the first point of the fourth set.
Yet despite winning the point, nobody on Shiratorizawa’s side looked particularly happy.
Because from their perspective… The rally had taken far too much effort.
On the sidelines, Shiratorizawa’s assistant coach frowned deeply.
“Something feels strange. Iwaizumi may not have much of a height advantage, but when we’ve played Aoba Johsai in the past, his offensive power was never weak. So why do these last two spikes feel completely lacking in attacking intent?”
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t figure it out.
Beside him, however, Coach Washijō Tanji merely snorted.
“Hmph.”
“Oikawa, that brat… After all this time, he’s still the same. All he knows is how to play little tricks.”
(End of Chapter)